Author: Lisa

Q: Would you recommend purchasing the misspelled versions of my domain name and have them also point to my site?

A: No, not unless you realize that there is a ton of traffic that is going to the wrong spot. I am not someone who necessarily focuses on SEO I focus on word of mouth. So my traffic links through based on my name, based on the links that I am sharing and other people are sharing on the web.

Just when you thought you had a handle on this whole Social Media thing…technology does what it does best – CHANGE!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pinterest!

Even if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, I’m sure you’ve heard about the latest trend in the world of Social Media. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard – a place to keep notes, inspirations, ideas and more.

See something online that you like and want to share with others? “Put a Pin in it”!

Even better, you can browse the boards of others to get great ideas for your home, pets, kids, crafts, even business! Yes, Pinterest can be an excellent place to showcase your business…If you do it right.

No clue where to start? Dread having to setup yet another account and profile? Don’t worry! Pinterest has made it SUPER EASY and I’m going to help you through it! For just $19.97 I’m going to teach you how to get started with this new platform and how to make it work for your business.

Need an even better reason to order this webinar? No Problem! You can help me Spread the Love and benefit The Ultimate Kindness Project! $10 of every Pinterest Webinar Recording purchase will be donated to The Ultimate Kindness Project to help an amazing Mom get a new, specially equipped van for her special needs son (learn more about the UKP here)!

So, help yourself to some training and help a very deserving Mom in the process. Now THAT is LOVE!

This video is short and to the point and it’s all about Video! If you want to be found, noticed and make it easier for others to get to know what you are all about, then Video MUST be part of your marketing strategy.

In this video, I am sharing three simple things you can do to get started and I’d love to hear your comments! What advice would you share with someone who is just starting out using Video?

Are you getting the most out of your e-Marketing?

Email Marketing is the one way you can consistently reach out and communicate with your clients. And, it is the ONLY WAY to reach them when you want wherever they are thanks to the Internet and Mobile Technology.

Something this important can’t be left to chance and guesswork. You have to learn how to use this platform to grab attention, engage and share your message with your audience. During this hour-long, instant download workshop I cover:

Why consistency is key and how sending a weekly newsletter will build a better relationship with those on your list.

The importance of using autoresponders and followup sequences to make an impression.

Why you should create campaigns and how to use them to improve your sales.

When to send a solo e-blast and what it should include.

That Can-SPAM really can cost you time and money and how to ensure you comply.

The importance of subject lines to grab attention and draw the reader in.

Which words you should avoid and why so that you stay out of spam folders and stay in front of your clients and prospects.

How to measure your readership, click-throughs, bounces and skips, and how these numbers affect your business.

I started following Chris Brogan on Twitter years ago. His book, Trust Agents, was one of the earlier books that I read in the Social Media space and when I read that he had a telecom background like myself – I couldn’t resist. I had to send him a tweet and tell him how much I enjoyed his book.

To my utter shock, he replied! Not only did he reply, he had an actual conversation back and forth with me.

That was years ago and the conversations have continued on Twitter, Facebook and most recently Google+ where he was one of the early pioneers who influenced me to set up my plus account. (Chris has a new book about Google+ too)

I asked Chris if I could interview him for The Social Business Academy because, as I have watched his platform grow over the past few years, I have observed one thing – Chris is still the same guy.

He still has conversations with new people on a regular basis. He still replies, engages and treats others with respect. He still creates great content on a regular basis and helps others for free. He still takes time to explain to people why he does things like unfollow everyone on Twitter and then selectively follow back those he converses with.

Social Media allows individuals to create relationships with a larger audience than ever before. The very thing that can help you create success in your business can also bring you down if you let your ego get in the way. Chris to me, exemplifies the name of his business – Human Business Works.

This coming Thursday, I have the privilege of interviewing Chris for The Social Business Academy (register for FREE by using the form below or click here) where we will talk about the path he has created to success online, his new book, and gain some wisdom and advice from him on how people can best utilize social media for their business. I am guessing we will talk about the power of relationships, community and people – because that’s what Chris is all about.

She said “You did us a disservice by not giving us a way to work with you.”

I was shocked!

It happened in 2010 when I spoke at Christine Kane’s event. I went as a favour to a friend to share information about Social Media. I wanted to help her out and add value for her clients.

I did not go there to sell.

After I did my two hour talk a bunch of us were sitting around chatting and that’s when it happened. A woman approached and told me that I had done them all a disservice because I failed to give them a way to work with me, to learn more, when I spoke.

How do you like them apples? Not exactly what I was expecting by giving them the gift of avoiding my sales pitch.

Boy was I wrong!

Isn’t it true that most of us fear being too salesy? We are passionate to the core about what we do but we are afraid that we will come off the wrong way by trying to push our stuff on someone else.

And it’s not just about speaking, it’s a mindset that I see over and over again. People are afraid to sell their products and services. We are afraid to go for the close and ask for the sale. It’s actually quite funny to watch us squirm.

The biggest reason we are afraid to sell is not that we don’t want to be pushy, the biggest reason we are afraid to sell is we are afraid of rejection.

You got it – your fear of rejection is the number one reason why your business is not growing the way you want it to financially.

An important thing to understand is that part of the fear of rejection comes from a lack of knowledge around the actual sales cycle. If you have never been trained on the art of selling, then you probably don’t recognize that you should expect a certain percentage of people NOT to buy. In fact, it’s okay when someone says no. That means you are one person closer to the one who will say yes.

I want you to think of sales like playing golf:

When you learn how to golf you need to learn how to swing a bunch of different clubs. There is one to drive off the tee box, one to get you out of the sand, one to help you putt etc.

Just imagine, you are playing the game for the first time and you don’t know which club does what! And even worse, you don’t really know how to swing the club so that you can actually hit the ball! How do you think you are going to do?

Guess what else? – you don’t know how to keep score! How are you going to feel at the end of your first game? Do you think you feel like a rock star? Or, do you think perhaps your ego is a little bit wounded and the thought of playing again is like sticking needles in your eyes?

Sales is just like that.

There is a process you need to go through, and there are different tools every step of the way designed to help you help your client make a buying decision.

If you don’t know the process, and you are not aware of the tools, my guess is you are going to get rejected almost every single. That on it’s own is going to make you afraid of selling and you will avoid it at all costs.

So, is there a way to make it easier? Is there a simple formula that will teach you how to sell the RIGHT way?

Of course! Here is my simple formula for sales:

1. Build trust with your client – Your ability to establish rapport with them is the most important step. If you botch this, it doesn’t matter how good you are at closing, if they don’t like you, they won’t buy.

2. Determine needs – Ask lots of questions to really understand what it is your client needs. If we are talking about sales on the web, think about the questions that need to be asked and answered and include this in your copy.

3. Present a solution – once you understand what someone needs, present the right product or service to help fulfill their needs and be sure to show them how this can help them. Remember to talk about the benefits to them.

4. Overcome objections – there are always objections. Anticipate what they are: price, timing, money. Be prepared to handle these objections so you can instill confidence in the buyer. You should know why people don’t buy, and if you don’t, then go find out.

5. Close the sale – That’s right, ask them to take action. Ask them to make a decision now. Imagine you go shoe shopping, you try on shoes, they are fabulous, you tell the clerk you love them and she packages them up and takes them back into the stockroom??? There are many ways to learn how to close the sale so you do not come off as pushy. Learn what they are and practice asking for the money. Role play this until it is easy to do.

6. Add on – if they have made a decision on the big item, look for ways to add on. There is always something else they need to go with what they bought. Your job is to anticipate what that is and offer it at the time.

It’s that simple! Now, keep in mind that this is a really basic overview for you on sales not an all encompassing guide. And I also want you to remember, Social Media is not the forum to sell your stuff.

Social Media is the forum to build relationships with people, to let them know you exist – that is what marketing is all about. Imagine if Starbucks didn’t have a sign on their store fronts how hard it would be for you to figure out what they offer and if it is something you would be interested in.

Social Media is a great way for you to get to know an audience who may need your product or service. We all like to buy and we all buy from those we know like and trust. Your job as the business owner is to be ready to convert that sale when they are ready.

See, I know that most business owners start out the same way did. With no one other than their Mom on their mailing list. I also know that it’s tough to grow your business and expand your network if no one knows about you.

This hour-long workshop on List Building will completely change that. I will show you:

How I created a platform close to 20,000 strong in just over two years.

The most effective way to dramatically increase your list at events or when you are speaking.

The number one thing you absolutely have to do to get people to say “YES, I want to hear from you!”

How to leverage your Social Networks as part of your list so you can spread your message even further.

The greatest way to partner with others so your list keeps on grow over and over again.

The one thing I did in 2011 that added 400 people to my list in just a couple of days.

and MORE!

No matter what kind of business you have, your list is, without a doubt, one of the most important elements. Knowing how to build it and, maybe even more importantly, how to maintain it, is vital to your success!

Oh no! I accidentally clicked on a link to a phishing site! Did it happen to you too?!?!

In all seriousness, it did NOT happen to me, and it did not accidentally happen to you either. In fact, you did it to yourself.

Recently, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of Twitter phishing scams. I can tell, because I have been the recipient of many direct messages telling me that people are saying terrible, horrible, awful, very bad things about me online. This type of thing is number one on my list of types of messages to ignore.

Don’t know what Phishing is? The short answer is YOU get tricked into clicking on a link and then, you essentially give up your user name and password and someone hijacks your account. Most often on Twitter they start to bombard your followers with more phishing links via direct messages in the attempt to hack more accounts.

I have seen countless examples on Twitter:

“You seen what this person is saying about you (some type of phishing link) terrible things.”

“OMG is this you in this video (some type of phishing link)?”

Typically there is some type of grammatical error, the link is always a shortened link, and most of the time (but not always) the messenger is someone you do not know.

Let me be clear: No one is talking about you in some blog post, they are not uploading scandalous photos of you, and you have not been caught in some video without your own knowledge.

Stop falling for these messages when they end up in your inbox.

When curiosity really really gets to you and you just can’t resist checking into it….here is a way to tell if the message is real:

Send the person a direct message back and ask them if they really sent you that link. 99.9% of the time they will not reply because they have no idea their account has been hacked.

The other 0.1% of the time, they will reply and validate that they really did send you the link and it is safe to click on.

Don’t be gullible, stay away from links that seem suspicious or are from people that wouldn’t normally be sending you a link via Twitter this way.

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“If there’s one thing Lisa Larter understands, it’s BUSINESS. If there’s one thing Lisa Larter does, it’s DELIVER. Within minutes, she can hone in on the problem, map out your solution, and get you results like you never imagined. In... Read More